


When She Loved Me

by hermione_vader



Series: Plastic Armor [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012), Toy Story Series (Movies), X-Men (Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-24
Updated: 2013-01-24
Packaged: 2017-11-26 16:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/652311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermione_vader/pseuds/hermione_vader
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Avengers/Toy Story fusion AU.  When Steve accidentally ends up at a thrift store, he meets a new toy who might be able to help him get back home.  And he just might be able to help her, too.  Part 3 of the Plastic Armor series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When She Loved Me

Steve never thought he'd be in a thrift store.  He never thought he'd be _for sale_ in a thrift store, but here he was sitting in a box with a $2 sticker on his head.  If only he hadn't tried to rescue Wheezy the Penguin and Blinky the Binoculars from the yard sale...  No.  He'd done the right thing.  It wasn't their time yet; Phil's mom made a mistake and Steve corrected it.  But he _had_ to be worth more than two dollars.  Yeah, he'd undergone some wear-and-tear in his time with Phil, but two dollars?  Really?  
  
A rustling in the box next to him snapped Steve out of his self-pity-party.  A blonde female doll poked her head out of her crumbling box, stared at Steve for a few moments, then squirmed and climbed her way over to him.  
  
"Wow, a Captain America doll.  I never thought we'd get one of you guys," she said, leaping over the flap into Steve's box.  She landed on an Old McDonald-related spinning toy that only landed on the cow (Steve had tried it earlier).  "But this place doesn't get a lot of toys to begin with and the ones we do get usually sell pretty quickly.  So mostly it's just me.  I'm Mystique."  
  
"Captain Steve Rogers.  It's nice to meet you, Mystique."  Steve shook her slim, plastic hand.  Now that he could see her up close, he almost mistook her for a Barbie, but she wasn't.  Not quite.  She a had button just above her right hip, but Steve couldn't guess what it was for.  
  
She sat down on the Old McDonald toy and the cow went off, blaring into the spaces between the secondhand skirts and blouses in the middle of the store.  The cashier did a double take, shook his head, and went back to work.  "So, Captain America, somebody finally decided to donate _you_?"  
  
"No!"  Steve waved his hands in protest.  "Phil would never get rid of me!  I'm his favorite!  Some other toys were going to be sold at a yard sale while he's away at camp without his say, so I pulled a rescue mission and accidentally ended up in the sale.  But he didn't throw me away."  
  
Mystique side-eyed him.  "Not yet."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
She stood up and put her hands on her hips.  "Even _favorite_ toys get tossed out eventually.  It's the circle of life.  I used to be Destiny's favorite.  She loved me and she kept me close for a long time.  She even called me Raven.  Then, one day, she tossed me under the bed.  I never came out for years after that.  She decided around that time she'd rather transform herself with makeup than play with her shapeshifting doll."  Mystique pressed the button on her side and her whole body _click_ ed to a blue-skinned form and her hair switched to red.  "This is my default mode."

"It's...you're still beautiful."    
  
She sat back down, this time next to Steve.  "You don't have to lie to me, you know.  I was discontinued for a reason."  She pinched her blue face into a sour expression and curled her shoulders forward.  
  
"I wasn't lying."  Steve wrapped his arms around her.    
  
She stiffened at first, but then leaned into his touch, resting her head on his shoulder.  "Then why am I still here?"  
  
"Have you ever tried putting yourself in plain view?  Someone would probably buy you in a heartbeat if they could see what you can do."  
  
"I don't know.  I haven't really trusted anyone since Destiny, so I guess I just..."  She buried her face in his neck, and Steve could hear her stifling tears.  
  
"Destiny wasn't the only kid in the world."  Steve only held her tighter.  "Hey, it's getting too late to leave now, but why don't you come back to Phil's with me tomorrow?  He'd love you, and so would his little sister."  
  
She raised her head up, still blinking back tears.  "He has a little sister?"  
  
"Yep.  She's adorable.  Darcy would love a toy like you, and she's just about old enough now."  
  
Mystique pulled away and shook Steve's arms off.  "I'll have to think about it."  
  
"Please do."  
  
She leaned in, her lips just inches away from Steve's.  "You're cute.  But even if I say yes, I don't owe you anything.  At all."  
  
"Whoa!  My intentions are purely honorable, I swear."  Steve held his hands up again.  
  
Mystique chuckled as she climbed back up the side of the box.  "Of course they are."  She looked back and grinned before she jumped back into the other box.  "But then, you Captain Americas are all meant to be plastic perfection, aren't you?"  
  
"I, uh, I'm not...I don't really..."  Steve glanced down at the Old McDonald toy again.  He heard her melodic laugh again and then she pulled her box's worn-out flaps shut.  
  
Maybe the thrift store wasn't such a bad place after all.  But he had to get back home.  And he would.  Or destroy himself trying.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [When She Loved Me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3852793) by [blackglass](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackglass/pseuds/blackglass)




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